Theater-chair.



R. D. WEAKLEY.

THEATER CHAIR.

APPLICATION HLED FEB-2.19M

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nnviuoivn n. WEAKLEY, or run UNITED sra rns ARMY, nssrsu'on ro iannnnn'r s. eannnnnor s1. LOUIS, i/irssounr.

THEATER-CHAIR.

means.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAYMOND D. WEAK- LEY, a citizen of the United States, an officer of the United States Army, formerly a resident of the city of Chicago, Illinois, and now stationed at Jeifersonville, Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful lmprovement in Theater-Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which My invention relates to a convertible chair or seat particularly adapted for use in theaters, auditoriuins and the like and this application should be read in connection with my co-pending application filed April 19, 1.915, Serial No. 22,308.

The principal object of my present invention is to generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the chair or seat disclosed in my application aforesaid, and further to provide a chair which can be easily and cheaply manufactured.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a chair of my improved construction.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of a. chair of my improved construction with a portion of the seat in an elevated position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 3*?) of Fig. 2.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a practical embodiment of invention, 10 designates the usual side frames of a chair or seat such as is ordinarily used in theaters and the like, said frames being preferably cast and provided with the usual arm rails or rests 11 and a back 12. The seat portion of the chair contemplated by my invention is formed in two parts 13 and 14, the former being rigidly fixed in any suitable manner to the side frames 10 at a point near the lower end of the seat back 12. The front or movable portion 14 is provided at its sides with upwardly projecting arms 15, the upper ends thereof being pivotally connectthe seat can be finished or. upholstered in any desired manner. Under normal condi tions, or when the front or movable portion 14 of the seat is in its lowermost position, it occupies substantially thesame horizontal plane with the rear portion 13 and the two portions thus combined to form a seat for an adult. When it is desired to provide an elevated seat for a child, the front portion 14: of the seat is swung upwardly and rearwardly until its front edge bears against the front face of the lower portion of the back 12, such movement necessarily reversing the position of said front portion or turning it upside down. When so positioned the movable portion 14 is adapted to be occupied by a child and in such elevated position, the childs eyes are in approximately the same horizontal plane with the eyes of the adults occupying the adjacent chairs, consequently, the child can view the stage or screen in the theater with the same degree of comfort as adults. A rail 16 is positioned between the front portions of the frames 10 a short distance below the plane occupied by the fixed seat portion 13, said rail serving as a foot rest for the child occupying the elevated seat.

A. chair of my improved construction is comparatively simple. can be cheaply manufactured, is capable of being readily converted from an adults chair to a chair or seat for a child, and provides simple and effective means whereby children who are patrons of the theater or picture exhibitions may view the stage or screen with the same degree of comfort and on an equal basis with adults.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved theater chair may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A theater chair comprising a pair of side frames, a back and a seat having a portion which is hinged to said side frames and adapted to be simultaneously swung upward and inverted to form a secondary seat.

2. The combination with a chair frame comswung upward and inverted to form a secondary seat which is elevated with-respect to the normal seat.

A theater chair having a seat which is divided transversely and the front portion being hinged so as to be simultaneously swung upward and inverted to form a sec- -ondaryseat=which is disposed above the rear seat portion and the aXis of movement of {said hinged portion being in aplane above that occupied by the normal seat.

4. A theater chair comprising side'frames,

at points in a horizontal plane above the plane occupied by the rear portion so as to be inverted to form a secondary seat which n is elevated with respect to the normal seat.

5. A theater chair comprising a frame, and a seat formed in two parts'one of which is fixedwto the frame and the other part pivotally connected to said frame with the axis of pivotal movement-in a plane above that occupied by the seat.

Intestimonywhereof; I hereunto afiix my signature, this 21st day of January, 1918.

RAYMOND D. VVEAKLEY.

' .GopiesJofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each,- by :addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

1 Washington, D. O.

It is hereby certified that Letters Patent No. 1,283,999, granted November 5, 1918, upon the application of Raymond D. Weakley, of the United States Army, for an improvement in TheaterChairs, Were erroneously issued to Herbert S. Gardner, as assignee of said invention, whereas said Letters Patent should have been issued to said Gardner as trustee, as shown by the records of assignments in this ofiice; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of December, A. D., 1918.

F. W. H. CLAY,

[SEAL] Acting Commissioner of Patents. Cl..155-l3. 

